Edible Arrenberg

A visible symbol of the “Edible Arrenberg” initiative is the community kitchen in the neighborhood center. Built from recycled materials, equipped with donated tableware, and funded by donations, this kitchen serves as a gathering place and a catalyst for many things.

On Restaurant Day in Arrenberg, private pop-up restaurants open for a few hours and invite neighbors, friends, and curious passersby. Restaurant Day is celebrated twice a year in Arrenberg and other Wuppertal neighborhoods: in mid-May and mid-November.

Once a week, the food rescue initiative takes place at the community center: saving and sharing food instead of throwing it away.

An aquaponics system can be used to produce food in an urban setting with minimal energy and space consumption. The Farmbox successfully demonstrates this on a small scale.

Urban gardening is also a thing in Arrenberg: At the Dalsterhof, the neighborhood garden project—featuring raised beds, bees, an orchard meadow, and a potato patch—is entering its fourth season. In the courtyard of Café Simonz, neighboring families tend to raised beds to grow fresh vegetables and herbs. A neighborhood garden is set to be created on the banks of the Wupper next to the Pestalozzi Bridge; at the youth center, an inclusive gardening project for children was launched in collaboration with the organizations “Behindert – na und?” and “Aufbruch am Arrenberg,” an inclusive gardening project for children has been set up at the youth center, and in the courtyard of the Protestant parish’s community center, lettuce and herbs are growing as part of an intergenerational gardening project.

Cooking together and learning from one another—that’s what neighborhood cooking classes are all about. Whether it’s sushi, cookies, or chocolates, amateur chefs showcase their skills in the community kitchen and share them with others.

Cooking together, eating together, learning from one another—that’s the goal of “The Taste of My Childhood.” Neighbors cook recipes from their childhoods together and, in the process, strike up conversations about their own traditions and formative experiences.

“Meet Your Farmer”—that could be the motto for the connections between the residents of Arrenberg and the organic farmers from the Windrather Valley. Among other things, this initiative aims to promote the sale of locally produced goods. In practice, this takes place through the Community-Supported Agriculture program at Hof Vorberg.

Inspired by the establishment of so-called food councils in other cities, a group of activists has also formed in Wuppertal that aims to promote sustainable, regional, and organic food in the valley.